Research Consent Information

What is this study?

BridgeQuest is an educational game and a research study about how people make ethical decisions in immigration and settlement contexts. The study is conducted by researchers at the University of Alberta, Faculty of Arts.

We are trying to understand: Does playing an immigration simulation game improve people's knowledge of their rights, risks, and options? Do people make better decisions after practicing in a safe environment?

Do I have to participate in the research?

No. Participating in the research is completely voluntary. You can play BridgeQuest without consenting to any research use of your data. Declining research participation has no effect on your game experience.

If you consent to research and later change your mind, you can withdraw at any time from your Privacy Dashboard. Withdrawing consent does not delete your account or stop you from playing.

What data is collected for research?

If you consent to research, the following anonymized data may be used:

• Your gameplay decisions and their outcomes (anonymized — not linked to your name or email)
• Your ethics dial scores over time
• Your pre- and post-game knowledge assessment scores
• Session completion rates and return patterns

Your name, email address, and any personally identifying information are never included in research data.

How will the data be used?

• To study how interactive games can teach immigration literacy and ethical reasoning
• To improve the game's scenarios, difficulty, and content
• To train machine learning models that personalize the game's challenge level
• To publish findings in academic papers and conference presentations (aggregate data only)

Who has access to research data?

Only the BridgeQuest research team at the University of Alberta. Data is stored on IONOS Cloud servers in Germany and protected by data processing agreements. Data is never shared with government agencies, immigration authorities, or employers.

What are the risks of participating?

The risks of participating in this research are minimal. Your anonymized gameplay data will be used only as described above. There is no risk to your immigration status from playing the game or participating in the research.

What are the benefits?

Your participation helps us understand how to better design tools that prepare people for immigration challenges. You may also improve your own knowledge of immigration rights, risks, and processes.

Ethics approval

This research has been reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Board (REB) at the University of Alberta. REB approval number: [Pending — will be added before participant recruitment begins].

Contact

Research questions: bridgequest@ualberta.ca
Privacy questions: privacy@bridgequest.ca
Ethics concerns: University of Alberta Research Ethics Office, ethics@ualberta.ca

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